Pile Driving

H.B. Fleming is one of the leading pile driving contractors in New England. We have driven thousands of piles over the last 50-plus years. Our fleet of pile hammers allows us to install piles in virtually any soil condition encountered in New England. We routinely drive piles for bridges, commercial and residential buildings, dams, retaining walls, crane ways, and treatment plants. On several occasions, we have installed piles for building expansions and machinery foundations inside of existing buildings or in otherwise restricted spaces.

The Pile Driving Contractor’s Association is an association of pile drivers, equipment manufacturers, engineers, and material suppliers interested in the advancement of the driven pile as an economical and reliable deep foundation. The association provides technical support for anyone who is investigating deep foundation alternatives. You can visit PDCA at www.piledrivers.org.

High Strain Pile Dynamic Testing(PDA) is a testing method that is used to assess pile capacity and driving stresses. This method of testing pile capacity dovetails with the PDCA’s motto in that dynamic testing is conducted as the pile is being driven and incorporates pile testing with the installation of production piles. The results of the testing program are applied to the remainder of the production piles for a project. This streamlines the testing process and economizes the cost of the testing program. To learn more about dynamic load testing, visit the web site of Pile Dynamics, Inc. at www.pile.com/pdi/products/pda.

Another less frequently used type of load test is referred to as a Static Load Test. A static load test measures the axial deflection and rebound (or lack thereof) of a test pile that has been loaded with an amount of weight intended to mimic the load it will see in service. More information on Static Load Testing can be found in the ASTM D1143 specification.